My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice

March 1, 2020
A middle- to high school-grades primer on finding one's poetic voice. Seasoned poet and anthologist Vecchione here crafts a guide for would-be poets. Pitched toward teens inclined to pursue writing, Vecchione's book makes the argument for poetry from a romantic, personal perspective, describing how she came to be a writer as a way of coping with emotional turmoil at home and feelings of isolation at school. The empirical advice is divided into five sections, each consisting of easily digested short chapters covering both the why and how of creating verse. Excerpts from various poets demonstrate a range of poetic styles. The backmatter includes a brief bibliography and online platforms for listening to poetry and submitting work for publication. The author incorporates numerous inspirational quotations about writing from famous writers throughout, including Ursula K. LeGuin and Toni Morrison. Perhaps the work's strongest section is the one offering 25 provocative, creative prompts, such as being inspired by Pablo Neruda's question poems and writing unanswerable questions of one's own or writing a love poem without using the word "love." Vecchione also offers helpful pointers for editing one's work and knowing when to quash one's inner critic. While this volume contains much sound advice, it is more likely to be used by individual teen writers who wish to cultivate their poetry skills than to become a classroom staple. At once impassioned and practical poetic advice. (resources, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

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